Metro Atlanta this week is the site of the Alternative Products Expo, a convention that’s open to the public for “alt” products such as CBD and mushroom derivatives in candies and vapes. More than 100 vendors are scheduled to market their products and sell to local shops and the public at the show, which runs through Saturday at the Cobb Galleria Centre.
Only those 21 and over are allowed to buy tickets to the Expo.
After the Atlanta show, the Expo stops next in Peru in January, followed by Colombia in March, Miami in April and Nashville, Tennessee, in June.
Why visit Atlanta? The city’s “unique fusion of legacy buyers and new-age smoke shop enthusiasts,” the convention materials explained. In short: a booming market, with retail locations sprouting up all over the city and the region, with Atlanta an accessible crossroads for businesses.
Ever since a 2018 agriculture law legalized hemp at the federal level, shops that sell CBD and other hemp-related products have multiplied.
Regulations to govern the products and ensure they are safe have not caught up with their popularity, critics say. Most recently, there has been an FDA investigation into sicknesses associated with the Diamond Shruumz mushroom-spiked candies.
The Expo itself contains an all-caps warning on its website: “It is the sole responsibility of the consumer to understand the possible effects of anything they ingest at the show!”
This year, Georgia passed rules for using hemp under Senate Bill 494.
The Alt Pro Expo, as it calls itself for short, opened the morning after Hurricane Milton upended travel both on I-75 and flights. So although opening day would normally see a line of attendees stretching out the door, organizers said, attendance took a hit Thursday.
All the same, the vendors inside displayed a profusion of colors and cartoonlike designs; uniforms for vendors ranged from businesslike dress-for-success to face applique gems and floor-length glittering silver capes.
Alt Pro Expo in metro Atlanta
What: The Alternative Products Expo, which bills itself as “The hottest expo for smoke shop professionals” and a “counterculture and vape trade show.”
Where: Cobb Galleria Centre, 2 Galleria Parkway SE, Atlanta, GA 30339
When: Through today.
Who: Businesses and general public must be 21 years of age and over.
Price: $20 admission for three-day general admission pass
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